Determining who military service members deem credible to discuss firearm safety for suicide prevention

Objective:
To examine rankings of credible sources for discussing secure storage within a representative sample of firearm-owning service members, and examine how combinations of demographic variables impact the ranking of credible sources.

Method:
The probability-based sample was collected with the help of Ipsos. Participants were US service members who owned a firearm at the time of the survey (n = 719). Law enforcement officers, military members, and Veterans are ranked as highly credible sources by most subgroups of firearm-owning service members. Leveraging these voices in firearm safety conversations is necessary, may increase adherence to secure storage recommendations, and ultimately reduce suicide.

Project Status:
Completed

Principal Investigators:
Allison E. Bond, Jayna Moceri-Brooks, Shelby L. Bandel, Cassandra Crifasi, Craig J. Bryan, Daniel W. Capron, Annabelle O. Bryan, and Michael D. Anestis.

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